


Was Born To Lead

by Amuel



Category: Elena of Avalor (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Family Bonding, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29826246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amuel/pseuds/Amuel
Summary: A compilation of random drabbles about Gabe's past.
Relationships: Gabriel "Gabe" Núñez & Blanca Núñez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Was Born To Lead

This story happened many, many years ago in the kingdom of Campua. Campua was a beautiful place which was famous for its breathtaking waterfalls, magnificent lakes, and delightful woods. The people of Campua were filled with passion and love for life. They couldn't imagine even a day of their lives without the fun water games: swimming, splashes, searching for the colourful rocks, observation of the life of the underwater creatures, - all of those things were the essential parts of Campuans, especially of children.

Meanwhile, the little ones had fun and frolicked in the water, the adults saw the lakes of Campua as a way to relax. They could spend the hours of their time in the warm water, freeing their heads from worries and disturbing thoughts; watching the slight hesitation of the waves that filled their hearts with calmness and light. 

The existence of the people of Campua was inextricably linked with the water. For them, water is an irreplaceable source of life. Losing it, they could have lost themselves, and this was the thing they were afraid of the most. Something that they had to face one day. 

***

Life went on as usual. Everything was quiet and calm around that was reflected in the state of nature. There was no way you saw the clouds in the sky, or heard any sound in the woods. Everything was peaceful like the motionless water surface in which bright rays of sun were reflected. The Campuans were good-tempered and friendly people. They had a strong connection with the nature and depended on its state a lot. 

One day, something happened that none of Campuans could have ever foreshadowed: one of the rivers was ran dry. It felt like it was evaporated, cause the ground near the riverbank was burned. People had no idea what to do. They couldn't stop thinking about what they should have expected, if the same thing have happened to the other reservoirs. In that case, their lives could have changed forever, there was no way it remained the same. 

The dark times were in the kingdom. Almost every day Campuans noticed how the dear rivers and lakes had been replaced by the huge burned-out tracts of land. They couldn't understand where the fire came from to their village. Who had evaporated the water? How and why? What they should have done to stop it? Those questions were the only things every Campuans thought about. The only thoughts that filled their heads. 

Soon, having realized that the situation became worse, the people of Campua decided to tell about their trouble to the king. Just like his subjects, the king was a kind and friendly person. As soon as he had found out what the terrible things happened outside the palace, he ordered the captain of the royal guard to patrol the village to find the cause of fire and to destroy it. 

Having returned to the village, Campuans could barely recognize their home. The water in the rivers didn't frolick anymore, the lakes were evaporated. No one was able to enjoy the warm water that always calmed them down and let relax. There were anxiety and bustle in the woods. People could feel the smell of smoke, see the ash instead of soft soil and fragrant grass under their feet. Everything died. Children couldn't contain the tears, looking around. Their home didn't bring the happiness anymore, didn't make feel security and carelessness. Parents encouraged them, cause they had known that the royal guards would have come soon to solve their problem. 

The Royal Guard, led by the king, began to patrol the area. They looked at every corner, trying to find any clues about what could have been the cause of the fire in their kingdom. They had been searching all day, but couldn't find anything. Neither the fresh burned-out tracts of land, or the evaporated water. Nothing changed since they had arrived. However, the king insisted on staying in the village for the night, in case their enemy was active when no one could see it.

The soldiers had a sleepless, anxious night. For the whole night they had been in the woods, nothing had changed. It surprised the king a lot: he was sure that the enemy they had been haunting was a night creature that attacked surreptitiously. He was prepared to fight it to bring the peace back in his kingdom, to make his subjects happy, but for back then, he couldn't do anything. 

"Your Majesty, there is no one in the woods. What is your order?" the captain of the guard asked the king. 

The king turned around again. Having seen nothing that would've helped to find "the mysterious fire enemy", he replied, "Keep searching. We cannot leave these people in trouble. We shall not stop until we destroy the threat."

"But, Your Majesty, we don't even know what exactly we're looking for," captain argued. "Possibly, our enemy is just the lightning that flashed during a recent thunderstorm. It could have evaporated the water."

"The lightning is not able to do this, my friend. Follow the order," the king glanced sideways on captain and left, continuing the search. 

***

Day two was no different from day one: no signs, no hints. Nothing that could have helped to find out the reason of fire cause. People were terrified. Neither king, or his guards could do anything to bring the peace back to the kingdom. No matter how much they had tried, people felt that nothing would have been the same. They were forced to get used to life without water. The water that had been the base of their existence. However, Campuans could understand that this path wasn't the worst outcome: their village could have been burned to the ground, because of which they would even have been to leave the land they loved with all their hearts.

On the day three, not only the villagers felt despair, but the soldiers as well. They had been patrolling the village for day and night that exhausted them a lot. Captain of the guard, having seen his guards' tiredness, insisted on returning to the palace. The situation seemed impossible to solve, and there was no point to keep reassuring people and bringing the guards to the exhaustion. King was inflexible. He believed their enemy would have been appeared soon.

"Your Majesty, with all respect, but I don't think we should stay here longer. The soldiers are tired, people understand the situation is unsolvable. He have to..."

"What are you suggesting, captain?" king interrupted him. "To give up? We are not the cowards, my friend. We are responsible for these people and have to do whatever it takes to make them happy again."

"But the sleepless nights of patrolling are leading us to nothing! We're wasting our time!"

"In case, you are that tired, go to bed. I am able to keep searching by my own."

"Your Majesty..!"

"As you were!" the king exclaimed. The captain of the guard was surprised to hear such a tone to his address. He was frozen for a moment, but nevertheless accepted the order and left.

On the way, captain thought about nothing. He was upset. His friendship with the king had been lasting for many, many years. They had been through so much together: the war battles, difficult political situations, the king's father's death... Captain always did his duty valiantly. He fought for justice, protected the powerless ones, was courageous in the battles, always was ready to sacrifice himself to make others happy, asking nothing in return. He was a true knight, a man of honour which why the men respected him. That the kind of man Valeroso, the captain of the Campuan Royal Guard, was. However, Valeroso understood perfectly that despite his traits, tight bond with the king he remained a servant. The king had a power over everyone in the kingdom, and captain couldn't be an exception. 

Almost having achieved the tent, Valeroso noticed a spark of flame, flashing in the sky. He rubbed his eyes to make sure his vision didn't deceive him. As soon as he had opened the eyes, he saw the giant winged lizard in the sky. Its body was covered with the sharp scales from the head to the tail. The mighty wings cut through the air, and the ferocious fangs and claws were absolutely terrifying. The very appearance of the "lizard" could make anyone shiver with fright, but as soon as it had opened its mouth, and the sparks of the furious fire had fallen out of it, captain couldn't move, watching the terrifying, but magnificent creature. A dragon. 

Having been able to move, Valeroso ran to the king as fast as he could. He had to warn him, to protect. He made his way through the woods and breathed heavily. He ran that fast that couldn't think of anything. A dragon, having noticed the running officer, haunted him swiftly, blowing fire from his mouth. Valeroso blocked the attack with his shield and understood that it was much harder to find the king now. He couldn't help but think about his own safety, but also, he was responsible for the king's life, his friend's. 

However, a dragon was too strong, Valeroso couldn't risk the king's life. If he would have been keeping running to the field where he saw the king for the last time, a dragon could have harmed him. So, he went to the opposite direction, taking a dragon away from the village. There, on the high hill, the legendary battle between the fire-breathing lizard and the valiant knight happened. 

Valeroso started the battle with a dragon. A lizard wriggled deftly, avoiding the blows of the captain's sword, flew over his head, and breathed fire. Valeroso was by his own against this dangerous beast and couldn't stop thinking that he was guilty for not listening to the king. It turned out he was right. Campua was threatened, indeed. The kingdom suffered from the furious dragon. If the guards would have left the village, it could have been destroyed. And the only thing captain could think about was to slay the dragon to save people. To do his duty. 

The battle was lasting for a while. Valeroso was exhausted. He couldn't confront his enemy any longer. 

"I won't give up," the courageous captain of the guard repeated in his head. "I'll die, but will do my duty. Everyone is counting on me. I can't let them down."

A dragon came as close to the captain as he could see its ferocious eyes, sparkling with rage. Valeroso was weak, but sharply drawing his mighty sword from the scabbard, he pierced the dragon's mouth. A dragon was roaring in the pain, it couldn't control its body and lifelessly fell to the ground, without having time to spew out the last flames. It was slayed. Veleroso was looking at the dead creature for a long time, he couldn't believe he could have beaten it. Campuans could breathe a sigh of relief. Everything was over. 

"Valeroso!" captain sharply turned his head towards to the direction the sound came from and saw the king. "My friend, what did happen? Are you hurt? How are...aargh! What is that?!" king laid his eyes on the lifeless scaly body. 

"The lightning," captain responded with a grin. 

King was confused for a moment and then smiled slightly.

"So, _this_ is a thing! The village had been threatened by a dragon. A _fire_ -breathing dragon! Well, it does make sense!"

Without any words, Valeroso had put his hand on his friend's shoulder, and the king smiled. Together they had returned to the village, reporting to the people that they had nothing to fear anymore.

***

"Today, my friend, you have shown an indescribable courage, honour, and selflessness. You are the one who has saved our kingdom from the death by proving your loyalty again. You are the one who has beaten the dangerous beast, and this is why I am giving you the new title. From now, captain Valeroso, you are the Dragon Slayer," king reported. 

Valeroso took his new title with a great honour and swore to keep serving the kingdom with the same bravery and devotion. 

"One more dragon has been noticed in the village. Make sure he is gone today," king ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Valeroso saluted and rode a horse to the village, holding his mighty sword high above the head." 

***

The night sky, filled with the sparkly stars, spread out outside the window. There was quite, no sound was heard around. But, if we look through the window of the "Nuñez and Son" bakery, we can hear the slight rustling of the book pages. The young woman was sitting on the bed, reading a fairytale to her little son. Her eyes were skimming the lines, and the voice was quite, tender, but expressive. The boy was listening to his mom with the deep curiosity and was delving into the meaning of each word she was pronouncing.

"Is it all?" the boy asked not without the sadness in his voice, seeing how mom was closing the book. 

"Yes. The adventures of the Dragon Slayer are ended for now, mijo," the woman whispered, stroking her son's head.

"But we don't know, if he defeated that dragon!" the boy exclaimed with a little disappointment. 

"The Dragon Slayer is a courageous and valiant knight, Gabriel. We can say he won for sure."

"Doesn't matter! Maybe, that dragon is too strong for the captain. I wanna know how he's gonna beat it!"

The boy's mother, Blanca Nuñez, looked at her son with a gentle smile. Her face always expressed calmness and warmth, and her light-green eyes always were filled with the love and care. She was happy to hear her Gabriel got into the read story that much. 

"I see you loved this book very much, mijo. What did you like the most?" 

The boy took a thought. He remembered everything that happened in the book and exclaimed, "The Dragon Slayer himself! He's so good and brave! I wanna be like him!" Blanca looked at Gabriel and couldn't hide how much she was proud of him. He truly made her happy. "He loves people and is always ready to protect them. He's a true knight!"

"For me, you are already a knight, mijo. My little hero," Blanca ruffled Gabriel's hair and kissed his forehead softly. The boy was laughing and approached her to hug tightly. 

"I love you, mami."

"I love you, too, mijito." 

The mother and son were snuggling for a while, and then Blanca whispered, "It's late, Gabriel. Time to go to bed. You know, the true knights need to have a proper sleep to be strong and fresh."

Gabriel jumped into his bed, and Blanca covered him with a blanket, leaning over him and kissing on his cheek. 

"Sweet dreams, Gabriel," Blanca whispered.

"Good night, mamá."

Blanca put out the candle, looked at her son, and was about to sleep, too. 

Gabriel couldn't sleep. In his head, he was imagining the picture of the Dragon Slayer, his battle with a dragon (and couldn't stop thinking that lizards are creepy creatures, actually). He was thinking of his courage, valor, selflessness, desire to do whatever it takes to protect the ones he loved. And Gabriel wanted to be like him, indeed: a knight, a protector of his kingdom, someone who brings happiness and safety in people's lives. And who knows, maybe, one day, he would achieve that? 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a good writer. I know. Anyway, if you liked the story, let me know that! And please, feel free to correct me in case of possible grammar errors! My English is not impressive ×)


End file.
